The Album of You and I

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Theo looked over his phone. Re-reading his messages to Emma, a smile formed on his face. They had been talking everyday for the past week- late into the hours of the early morning, despite her having lectures and him having practice. It was hard, but it was also worth it.

The smile dropped when Theo remembered the phone call that he received this morning. 

'Your test results have come back. We suspect that it may be a pituitary tumour owing to your lack of peripheral vision and frequent aggressive headaches. I advise that you come it and see us so we can confirm and discuss the best course of treatment.' 

The doctor's words were like nails on a chalkboard to Theo. The blunt, concise syllables shattering any illusion of an easy life. He only went to the doctors only for a checkup- to make sure that he was healthy and not showing signs of early on-set dementia. He thought that life was finally leaving him be. It seems that life never grew bored of playing its games.

He knew that he should have told someone- at the very least their tour manager so that he could organise a way for him to confirm and treat. But Theo couldn't bring himself to tell anyone. There was still a small part of him that held on to the idea that maybe they called the wrong person- or switched his file mistakenly. That he didn't have to endure another hurdle- that he didn't have to jump through another hoop with the risk of failing. 

He needed a distraction. He needed a reminder of how good like could be. But Emma was miles away and performing every night was already beginning to drain him- not to mention the loud sounds not serving any respite for his painful head.

At least now, he might know the cause of it. 

After researching, Theo found that pituitary tumours were 99% benign and so not cancerous. Relief flooded through him, quickly followed by anxiety. He was going to have to get it removed- but the question is when? 

It was late and the tour bus was completely quiet. Harry and Max had both passed out after their adrenaline rushes from the show crashed. Theo, however, was restless, dealing with the guilt over not telling them and Emma, as well as his nervous and erratic heart that sped up whenever he thought about the doctors.

There was not much that Theo could do right then. Emma was probably asleep and though they talked everyday, Theo was trying to give her time to adjust into uni and throw herself into it. Feeling defeated, Theo wrapped the duvet around himself, closing his eyes and waited impatiently for sleep to come. He needed to do something to get his mind off of everything.

Meanwhile, Emma had fallen into a routine. Slowly adjusting to uni life, she, Caleb and Angie were learning to live together along with three other people;

'Who didn't wash their dishes! Come on- own up'

She heard Angie shout. Chuckling to herself, Emma looked at her phone to see a text from Char, an article link it seemed. With a message 'why does it always seem like I'm delivering bad news?' Curious and anxiously, she opened it. It was some celebrity gossip website. Before she met Theo, Emma would sometimes look at these sort of website, curious about who was going out with who- now she was repulsed by the idea of people's lives being entertainment that the world felt they were entitled to watch and comment. The link took her to an article about Theo- or 'Emmett'. 

They were photos taken in Portugal, at a club it seemed. Emma was happy to see that he was till his care-free self, until she saw a photo of him and some well-known gorgeous model. They looked close, her arm dangling of his shoulder. Something twisted grew in Emma's heart and stomach as she stared at the image. The model looked stunning, her long legs elongated from the graceful pose, not a single disheveled hair or any sign of sweat. Her and Theo looked like a power couple you would see on a red-carpet. The article underneath was questioning if Emmett and Emma were still together- or if Emmett was cheating on her.